Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Red Mountain, California 93558
Monday, February 22, 1993 18:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT SAID HE DEPARTED NAS CHINA LAKE AT 1520 HOURS AND FLEW TO SAN DIEGO, ARRIVING AT ABOUT 1650 HOURS. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE FLEW THE ENTIRE TRIP ON THE LEFT FUEL TANK. THE AIRCRAFT WAS NOT REFUELED DURING THE TIME IT WAS ON THE GROUND IN SAN DIEGO. THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED AT 1715 HOURS FOR THE RETURN TO NAS CHINA LAKE. AT ABOUT 1835 HOURS THE ENGINE QUIT. THE PILOT SAID HE SWITCHED FUEL TANKS FROM THE RIGHT TO THE LEFT, ENERGIZED THE BOOST PUMP AND WAS ABLE TO GET AN ENGINE RESTART. A FEW MINUTES LATER, THE ENGINE QUIT AGAIN AND THE PILOT SAID HE WAS UNABLE TO GET A RESTART. THE AIRCRAFT DESCENDED INTO A CLOUD DECK AND COLLIDED WITH HILLY TERRAIN DURING THE NIGHT FORCED LANDING ATTEMPT OVER DESERT TERRAIN. AT THE TIME OF THE ENGINE FAILURE, THE PILOT WAS IN CONTACT WITH A TRACON FACILITY RECEIVING RADAR TRAFFIC ADVISORIES. HE REPORTED TO THE CONTROLLER AFTER THE ENGINE FAILURE THAT 'I GUESS I'M OUT OF FUEL.' IN HIS WRITTEN REPORT OF THE ACCIDENT, THE PILOT STATED THAT THERE WAS NO MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE OF THE AIRCRAFT OR ENGINE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FUEL EXHAUSTION DUE TO THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING AND HIS FAILURE TO REFUEL THE AIRCRAFT. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE THE PILOT'S INABILITY TO SEE THE TERRAIN DUE TO THE DARK NIGHT CONDITIONS AND THE FLIGHT'S ENCOUNTER WITH INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS DURING THE EMERGENCY DESCENT FOLLOWING THE ENGINE FAILURE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/22/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1845 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | RED MOUNTAIN |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93558 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1856 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 326 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NID |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2283 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 366 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 22 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1940 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 52028 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5607P |
| NTSB Number | LAX93LA133 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24-250 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-675 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 22 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 56 |
| Airframe Hours | 4739 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LEE PHILLIPS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 240 HOLLY CANYON |
| Aircraft Owner City | RIDGECREST |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93555 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | US NAVY CHINA LAKE FLYING CLUB |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | NAS CHINA LAKE |
| Operator City | CHINA LAKE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 93555 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYF |
| Departure City | SAN DIEGO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NID |
| Destination City | NAS CHINA LAKE |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |